Make the Most of Your Home Page
Do you feel passionate about your business website’s home page?
The home page is often the first page that current and potential customers visit, and it can be your one chance to make a lasting impression. A home page sets the tone for the rest of the site and should provide an incentive for your visitors to explore the site further.
Recently there has been some chatter about the decline in the importance of home pages. With so many people initiating contact with websites through other means—social media, search result links to specific site pages, remarketing, and other channels—there is evidence that people aren’t always entering through the home page. In fact, in 2014 a New York Times private report indicated that its home page traffic had declined by over 50 percent in two years.
What’s the verdict, then? A solid argument can be made that, although there might be a dip in home page traffic compared to a few years ago, home pages remain relevant and vital to the health of websites. Most visitors have come to your site for a particular reason, and the home page provides a platform for you to communicate how you can solve every visitor’s need.
It’s noteworthy that a contributor at Forbes reports that “readers who arrive at news sites via social media spend less time there and read fewer articles than readers who enter through the ‘front door’ of the homepage.” And while this statement is targeted to news sites, it is applicable to most other types of businesses as well.
Three Keys to a Successful, Engaging Home Page
Just like your physical home, the “front door” of your website can be a deal breaker. A lot rides on your home page. Make a statement with your home page, and you are almost guaranteed to have a captured audience.
Following are a few recommendations on how to optimize your home page.
- Make a connection: First impressions are unquantifiable and your company’s home page gives you the opportunity to begin a conversation. One goal should be to quickly convey your brand. You want to initiate a positive experience with your visitors so that they get a sense of the relationship they can expect by engaging with you.
- Lead your visitors to where you want them to go. With a well-designed and SEO-optimized home page, you are in the driver’s seat. The home page gives you the power to take your visitors on a guided journey. Ensure the flow of content—including graphics, photographs, videos, forms, etcetera—is intuitive, so that a user will follow the path to your call-to-action points. Make navigational options clear and unambiguous. Simplicity is better than complexity, especially since sites are very often viewed on mobile devices.
- Personalize it! One of the easiest and most effective tools to encourage site users to take action is to display dynamic, personalized content. With this type of content, you’ll have the ability to custom-fit your messaging and services to your audience. It’s been shown that visitors are more apt to take action (e.g. purchase) when they are presented with content that is relevant and speaks directly to their needs.
Hit a Home Run with Your Home Page
If you need professional guidance from a group of experts who will invest creative energy and thought into crafting a stellar home page, consult with the team at efelle creative.
Our team can offer solutions that will make your home page content and design really snap! We area a Seattle web design agency that has been specializing in online marketing, web design, search engine optimization for over ten years. Give us a call today at 206.384.4909, or feel free to submit an online inquiry.